This read will change your life forever

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golfer
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:18 pm

This read will change your life forever

Post by golfer »

Hyperhidrosis does not receive much interest in the medical field. We've all been to doctors hoping they have some cure for us or could tell us what is wrong with us, but to no avail. It may be because very few people suffer from it, or to others, they don't see it as much of a concern/problem. If only they knew.

I'm currently in the medical school application process, and I am not a doctor, but I believe I have pondered my hyperhidrosis and it's causes for more hours than any doctor. I'm not going to try and start a piss contest attempting to justify my hyperhidrosis as being "the worst" or describe how terrible it is because you all know how frustrating this condition is. We all suffer from it, and we can all agree that it sucks.

I've tried various prescription topical solutions to apply to underarms/hands and they did not work... at all. I've tried pills that dried my eyes and mouth and basically everything else except my hands/underarms. They dried my eyes so bad i began to have blurry vision and my mouth dried so bad I even got a cavity which I haven't had since I was 4. I even tried an iontophoresis machine which I thought would actually work. Unfortunately it didn't. These remedies clearly didn't work for me so I needed something else. They were like taking a tylenol when you have a torn ACL. It's not fixing the problem, just attempting to cover it up.

Now, I believe I know what causes hyperhidrosis, and how to stop its symptoms from occurring. Too good to be true right? Nope, it's *** science, I love science.

I'm not going to delve into all the technical jargon because none of you care and if you do, you can do the research yourself. I will simply go through the basics.

And if you're too lazy to read further, just read this; drink a lot of water.

The nervous system is a complex system that sends signals throughout our body using neurons. In ETS, part of the SNS (I will abbreviate parasympathetic nervous system as PNS, the sympathetic nervous system as SNS, and the nervous system simply as NS) is severed, specifically the preganglionic neruons of the thoracolumbar region to prevent these signals from being sent. This has far reaching consequences that go beyond just stopping hands from sweating. I can't describe them all but ask some patients who have undergone the surgery yourself.

Now, the SNS is responsible for the Fight or Flight response. The SNS is constantly activated at a basic level to maintain homeostasis. The SNS when primed increases sweating, breathing, heart rate, and tenses muscles. I believe the common condition for all hyperhidrosis sufferers is an overactive SNS. For us it relates to an excess in sweating almost constantly.

The PNS, responsible for Rest and Digest is also always active, but the SNS and PNS compete constantly, always a dynamic with one overpowering the other to meet our body's needs. When the PNS is primed, we notice a restful state with little to no sweating (what "normal" people are accustomed to at all times of the day). Also, alcohol inhibits activity of the SNS, which is why we notice dry sweat free hands when we have a nice buzz going on.

So the key is, we need the PNS more active than the SNS, and the result- sweat free or minimal sweating. How do we do this? The answer is not to drink alcohol at all times of the day because that would be dangerous and would be a terrible idea for many reasons that I will not get into. What we can do, is stay fully hydrated at all times. Researchers at Vanderbilt have conducted studies showing that drinking water can increase activity of the PNS. There you go folks, staying hydrated and consistently drinking water will decrease excessive sweating drastically. Your PNS will be more activated, countering the SNS, and you will be like a normal person, sweating a little when very nervous and totally dry at normal points of the day.

It has worked incredibly well for me. A good way to check if you're hydrated is by the color of your urine. If it's yellow, you're dehydrated, so drink up some h20. It should be clear. It may be the easiest and best remedy ever, so why not just give it a try? I know such a simple explanation may be hard to believe, but trust me, it works. I may pee a few more times a day than your average joe, but hey peeing is fun and my hands/underarms are dry.

P.S. I know this totally counters the one users advocacy of dehydration, or water fasting, which is downright idiotic and dangerous. No one should be preaching that information. Ask any doctor if he thinks water fasting is a good idea. Matter of fact, ask anyone you know if they think water fasting is a good idea. Yeah...

Hope this helps, I've been living a different life ever since i've given this a try.

Tranxene
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:02 pm

Re: This read will change your life forever

Post by Tranxene »

Any other tips for keeping the parasympathetic more dominant (besides meditation/breathing)? Does anyone know what the cause of an overactive sympathetic nervous system really is? I read something about it being caused by metal toxicity.

mrgupta
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 3:18 pm

Re: This read will change your life forever

Post by mrgupta »

Thank you for sharing this.

I've read your other post and as you and I also have a huge alchohol problem, that is ruining my life on a daily basis. My problem is a bit different, I had HH, which I tried solving with the ETS surgery... Long story short, it was the worst decision of my life, because now I suffer from severe compensatory sweating. I don't like getting into detail that much, because it's way too depresing, but I can share my story, if there is any interest (to be honest, I doubt this much pessimism will actually help anyone). I will just share a couple of details and explain my reasons.

My whole body sweats profusely, but it's never the case when I drink like crazy... I see people saying, drinking alchohol makes you sweat more, it's certainly not the case with me (probably related to the quantity of alchohol consumed).

Basically, I came here looking for an alcohol substitute... Alchohol is going to ruin my life completely, I can't even socialise (girls, some relatives, all summer related gatherings, pretty much any social awkwardness triggers the sweat) without a couple of pints in my belly, unfortunately I've let it come this far. So, besides it being a temperature issue, it's definately psychological in my case. Suicide is a daily thought for me, had I found a way to make it look like an accident, I'd probably have done it already. Drinking tons of water literally does nothing for me, I need some sort of a stronger substitute... What kind of pills work in a similar way? I've read stuff about diazepam, but it has really bad consequences, so I might as well stick to alchohol then for as much as I'm able too.

Sorry about my English, I'm from a small european country, English is not my first language.

Thank you

mrgupta
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 3:18 pm

Re: This read will change your life forever

Post by mrgupta »

Also I've found this on the internet, explaining how alchohol effects the nervesystem:
Alcohol causes a release of inhibition. So why does it also cause euphoria? It stimulates inhibitor pathways:

1. Potentiates the specific g-2L subunit of the GABA receptor, which activates the protein kinase C and causes sedation.

2. Inhibits the release of neurotransmitters - glutamate, and acetylcholine(ACH)

a. Glutamate is the main excitatory neuron

b. ACH is responsible for conversion of short term to long term memory à results in blackouts

1. Inhibits voltage gated Ca+ ion flux, which results in decreased endorphin release.

2. D2 Dopamine receptors are stimulated and endorphins are released, resulting in Euphoria. The exact mechanism of endorphin release is unknown

So you see Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. Its apparent stimulatory effects result from depression of inhibitory control mechanisms in the brain.
So I'm looking for a product that works in a similar way, hope this helps...

golfer
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:18 pm

Re: This read will change your life forever

Post by golfer »

To my knowledge (which may be minimal), the reason alcohol works so effectively to stop sweating is that it is a strong depressant. It decreases activity of the nervous system which is why drinking too much can actually cause your heart rate to come to a complete halt.

I honestly don't know any safe alternatives to alcohol. there are benzodiazepines, opioids, and barbiturates but those are all worse for you than alcohol in my opinion. much more addictive. Sorry to hear how rough things are for you post ETS.

How much water are you drinking? I notice that I begin sweating much more when I'm not as hydrated as I would like to be. are you *** clear even after consuming a meal? It's almost a hassle drinking as much water as I do. I'm consistently filling and re filling water bottles wherever I go.

mrgupta
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 3:18 pm

Re: This read will change your life forever

Post by mrgupta »

Thank you very much for your kind words and taking the time to read and answer my message. I really wish there was a substance with similar effects and I hope I can find it, before it's too late.

I tried drinking lots and lots of water, but it made no difference to me, so I decided to go back to my regular water routine. Can you help with the thought process here, how exactly does such water quantities work? Is it simply a complete detoxication or something else? With consuming meals, I've got another problem called gustatory sweating... To be honest though, with all that's going on, gustatory sweating is literally nothing in comparison.

superyou
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 8:03 am

Re: This read will change your life forever

Post by superyou »

Golfer,

Can you please expand upon the details of your HH symptoms and cure:

Where on your body did you sweat? And exactly when? Was this a lifelong problem?

How long did it take the sweating to stop once you embarked upon this cure? How much water do you drink daily?

Thanks,
Robert

golfer
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:18 pm

Re: This read will change your life forever

Post by golfer »

I sweat a lot on my hands and feet. To the point where it can literally be dripping off of my hands. It started as early as I can remember but for most of us, I only realized how big of a problem it was when I started talking to girls.

Drinking a lot of water is not a "cure". More so an improvement. If I continuously drink water I find that when I do sweat, it's for a shorter duration of time and that it is less severe. If I do begin sweating a lot, I make an effort to drink even more water. Keep in mind water takes a while to be absorbed into the body. You can't just chug a few bottles of water and expect it to help immediately. it may take a few hours so that's why continuously drinking water is the name of the game.

I don't measure how much water I drink but an estimate would be ~1 pint an hour. Obviously I have to slow down before bed or I'll be waking all night, but I do keep a glass of water by my bed so that I can drink it as I begin to wake up. The mornings are when I drink as much water as possible since my ~8 hour water fast during sleep leaves me relatively dehyrdated.

Knowing that water helps gives me hope. It puts my mind at ease knowing I am actively doing something to combat the sweating and I believe this psychological factor helps as well.

Hope this helps. I know it has been a huge game changer for me. Also, when people do say something about your sweaty hands which does happen, I call them out in a joking way to retort. "hey easy! don't put me on the spot like that I can't help it"

superyou
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 8:03 am

Re: This read will change your life forever

Post by superyou »

So, given that you ease off from the water before bed, you are drinking something like 12 pints of water a day? That's a lot!

Have you experimented with consuming differing amounts?

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